Circuit-controller.



J. H. LESLEY & O. T. SCHOEN.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16. 1910.

1 1 98,86 1 Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

FIGJ= l 67 I i 68 i L WITNESSES OK uwam'rons,-

Wlzsleyfq 0.7111

J. H. LESLEY & 0. T. SCHOEN.

CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED DEC-16.1910.

1at011tedSept. 19, 1916.

2 SHEETSSHEET 2.

2 w m 02H E Hm;

WM, M

FIG. 4.

IIVENTORS J.H.LE$LEY 4 OTchoen 5 Jkbbo rneys f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

I JOHN H. IJESLET AND OTTO T. SGHOEN, OF PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA.

CIRCUIT-CONTROLLER.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it knownthat we, JOHN H. LESLEY and OTTO T. SoHoEN, citizens of the United States of America, residing .at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Circuit-Controllers, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

This invention relates to improvements in circuit controllers, relating more particularly to devices adapted to make or break a circuit automatically, the closing of the circuit being provided at will and remaining closed for predetermined periods, being automatically broken at the termination of such period.

The invention is particularly adapted for use in connection with prepayment mechanism, of the type in which the controlling device normally retains the circuit broken, the deposit of a coin or acheck operating the device to close the circuit, the latter remaining closed for a predetermined period upon the termination of which the device operates to break the circuit. In devices of i this type, it is found desirable to enable a largernumber of coins or checks to be deposited without waiting for the period of activity of the circuit to elapse between the deposit of successive coins or checks, and it' is in this respect that the present invention becomes efi'ective. As an example of a use reached whereupon mechanism would be set and as explanatory of the general idea, it

may be considered as applied to an auto-' stop perforation at the end of each tune, this type of note sheet being common in the art. Assuming the device to be positioned so as to cooperate with the. circuit make and break device and also having a lever intersecting the coin path, the dropping of a coin would cause the lever to set the device into operation to close the circuit, the circuit remaining closed until the stop perforation is in motion to operate the device to return the make and break mechanism. to its circuit breaking position. If it is desired to deposit coins successively, thefirst coin sets the con- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 19, 1916.

Application filed December 16, 1910. Serial 160. 597,618.

troller into operation to close the circuit, the successive insertion of coins successively operating the lever tocarry the controlling element an increased distance, so that the mechanism controlled by the stop perforation of the sheet will not return the controlling element to its initial circuit breaking position, the result being that the circuit remains closed and the succeeding tune is played, this action continuing until the return movement has equaled the-forward movement and the completion of this places the. make and break device in position to break the circuit, the number of tunes played corresponding to the number of coins which were inserted. This arrangement causes the device to act on the order of an automatic magazine.

The objects of our invention are to proand combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings in which similar reference characters indicate similar parts in each of theviews, Figure 1 is an enlarged side elevation of the device partly broken away and partly in section, together With a conventional showing of sheet-controlled mechanism, Fig. 2 is a cross sectional view of. the device taken on the line III-III of Fig. 1, Fig. 3 is a plan of the device, Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view of the device taken on the line V-V of Fig. 3, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a detached 9, the latter being of a greater height than the former and provided with an inwardly rojecting arm 10 supporting a verticalcasmg ill-for a locking pawl 12, said pawl having the lower. end thereof beveled, as at 13 to engage the teeth 14 of a ratchet wheel 15 mounted upon a shaft 16 journaled in the standards 8 and 9. I

Encircling the shaft 16 between the ratchet wheel 15 and the standard 8 is a coiled spring 17 having one end thereof connected to the standard 8, as at 18 and the opposite end thereof connected to the wheel '15, as at 19, this construction placing the wheel 15 under the tension of the spring 17 when the wheel is turned in one directlon, said tension acting as the power to return the wheel to a normal position when released, as presently described.

The upper end of the pawl 12 is provided with an arm 20 having a hook-shaped end 21 to which is connected the upper convolu-' tion of a retractile spring 22, the lower con- 20- pivoted end thereof has a tooth 29 adapted to engage the teeth 14 of the wheel 15 upon the under side of the wheel. The outer end of the lever 26 supports a fiat plate 30.

As will be readily understood, the pawl 12, the lever 26 with its tooth' 29, and the connections therebetween, act as an escapement mechanism for the wheel 15, the downward movement of the lever releasing the tooth 29 and permitting the pawl 12 to descend into engagement with a wheel tooth under the action of spring 22, the return movement of the lever 26 causing the pawl to be raised through the action of rod 24, the arrangement being such as to permit of y the escape of one wheel tooth during one complete movement of the lever from and to its normal position. v

The lever 26 is normally retained iii an elevated position by a retractile spring 33 having the lower convolution thereof atwith two bearings 42 and 43.

tached to the lever 26, as at 34 and the upper convolution of said spring attached to a screw. 35 adjustably supported by a knurled nut 36 upon a bracket 37 carried by the base plate 6. Attached to the base plate 6 by an angle bar is the'back board39 of a I bellows 40, the front board 41 of said bellows having the upper end thereof provided Pivotally mounted in the bearing 43 is an arm 44 hav ing the opposite end thereof bent at right angles, as at 45 and provided with a tooth 46 adapted-to engagethe teeth 14 of the wheel 15 when the bellows is collapsed. The arm 44 extends through a vertical guide 47, carried by the back board 39 of the bellows.

Adjustably mounted in the bearing 42 is a set screw 48 provided with a jam nut 49 for holding said screw in an adjusted position, and the end of said screw is adapted to impinge a stop 50, carried by the back board 39 of the bellows and limit the collapsing movement of said bellows. The back board 39 has a tubular connection 51 for a hose 52 by which it may be connected to one of the pneumatics of the piano or other automatic instrument with which the device may be associated, the pneumatic being controlled, as is usual insuch instruments, by a perforation or perforationslinl the pneumaticcontrolling sheet, the latter being indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 1 at 101, the tracker connections being indicated at 102.

Mounted upon the end of the base plate 6 opposite the bellows 40 by a screw 53 is a mercury pot 54 adapted to contain a small quantity of mercury 55. Thescrew 53 extends upwardly from the bottom of'the base plate 6 into the mercury pot. A pin 56 'pivotally connected, as at 57 to an arm 58 fulcrumed in the upper hook-shaped end of a .bracket 60, carried by the base plate 6, is

adapted to extend into the pot 54, said pin being adaptedto move into and out of the mercury in the pot to form therewith a ling the operation of the player mechanism. Located upon'the lower end of the bracket 60 1s a binding post 61, and the upper end of said bracket is connected by a wire 62 to,

side of the base plate 6 by a wire 65 to a screw 66 extending upwardly into a binding post 67, carried by the base plate 6. Thecircuit to be controlled is indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 3 as leading to a motor 100.

The wheel 15 is provided with a crank pin 73, and this pin is positioned so that as the wheel rotates in one direction, the pin 7 3 will engage the rear end of the arm 58 and hold the pin 56 in an elevated position to break the electrical circuit. Upon a reversal of the direction of rotation of the wheel, the arm 58 will be released permitting the pin 56 to reenter the mercury andcomplete the circult. As will be readily seen, the pin 73 becomes operative to break the circuit when the wheel is at a predetermined point, the rocking of the arm causing it to contact with the top of the bracket 60, in which position the arm acts as a stop to limit the further movement of the wheel.

make and break device for a circuit control- Assuming the parts to be in position with the circuit broken, at which time the spring 17 is under its greatest tension, a movement of the lever 27 downwardly permits the spring 22 to move the pawl 12 downwardly, causing the lower end of the pawl to pass into the path of movement of the succeeding tooth of the ratchet wheel 15 and at the same time such movement of the lever releases the engagement of the tooth 29 with a ratchet tooth; upon such release, the spring 17 acts to move the wheel 15 (with the pin 7 3) until engagement is had between the pawl 12 and the succeeding tooth of the ratchet wheel, this movement and the succeeding return movement of the lever permitting the wheel to move a distance su'liicient to release the arm 58 and allow the pin 56 to enter the mercury 55 and complete the electrical circuit which circuit is maintained until the operation of the bellows 40, whereupon the arm 44 shifts the ratchet wheel 15 in the opposite direction (storing up spring tension), causing the crank pin 73 to tilt the arm 58 and elevate the pin 56, thereby breaking the electrical circuit.

It will be readily understood that if the lever 27 be given successive downward movements, these successive movements will cause the ratchet wheel to be successively advanced a corresponding number of toothdistances, such advance movements neces sarily carrying the pin 73 farther away from the point where it contacts with the arm 58. Since the operation of the bellows or pneumatic 40 can return the ratchet wheel the blistance of only one tooth at each operation, it will be clear that where-the ratchet wheel has been successively advanced, the return movement of the wheel will not belsutticient to cause the pin 73 to actuate thefcircuit breaking mechanism, so that the ci'rcuit remains closed until the ratchet wheel has been successively moved in the return direction step bv step to the position where the pin 73 becomes eitective to break the circuit, the wheel movements beingprovided by the member 44 a number of times equal to the number of movements of the lever1 27, the last movement bringing the pin 73 into engagement with arm 58 and rocking the latter-to break the circuit.

As will be readily understood, the structure disclosed herein provides a controlling device entirely separate from the circuit connectibns, the only portion of the dev1ce which islocated in such connections being the make and break structure exemplified bv the mercury cup and the pin 56; therefore, the mechanism is non-electric and dispenses entirel with devices liable to be affected by current conditions, etc.

What we claim is 1. In mechanism of the type described, a circuit controller comprising means for controlling the activity of a make and break device, a rotatable elementvcarrying a member for moving said device to break the circuit controlled by movements of the element in one direction, a pivoted lever movable at will, means operated by said lever for moving said element step-by-step in the direction to close the circuit, said latter means including a stop pawl for engaging said element to restrict the length of movement of the element, said pawl being disengaged by movements of the-lever in one direction, and pneumatic means for moving the element step-by-step in a direction to break the circuit, said circuit remaining closed during movements of the element to and from a predetermined position.

2. In mechanism of the type described, a circuit controller comprising a make and break device, a rotatable element having a member for moving said device to break the circuit controlled during the movement of said element in one direction, a pivoted lever movable at will, means .operated by said lever for moving said element periodically step-by-step in a direction to break the circuit, means for moving said element in the opposite direction, and a movement-limiting device for controlling the length of movement of the element in the latter direction,

said limiting device engaging said element when the lever is moved in one direction,

the lever withdrawing the limiting device during its movement in the opposite direction, whereby movements of the lever will provide a step-by-step movement to the element, said circuit remaining closed during movements of the element to and from a predetermined position.

3. In mechanism of the type described, a circuit controller comprising a make and break device, and means for effecting the make and break movements of said device, said latter means including a toothed element, a spring for rotating the element in one direction, a lever movable at will, escapement mechanism for regulating the move ment of the element, said latter mechanism being rendered operative by movements of the lever, and means for moving the element step-by-step in the opposite direction, said circuit remaining closed during movements of the element to and from a predetermined position.

4. In mechanism of the type described, a circuit controller comprising a switch controlling the circuit, a spring-actuated rotatable element for controlling the switch, a lever movable at will, escapement mechanism controlling the movements of the element under the action of the spring, said escapement mechanism being rendered active under movements of the lever and providing a stepby-step movement to the element in one dielement to and from a predetermined position.

5. In'mechanism of the type described, a circuit controller comprising a switch controlling the circuit, a springactuated rotatable element for controlling the switch, a lever movable at will, escapement mecha nism cont-rolling the movements of the element under the action of the spring, said escapement mechanism being rendered active under movements of the lever and providing a step-by-step movementto the element in one direction, and pneumatic means for returning the element by a step-by-step movement, said circuit remaining closed during movements of the element to and from a predetermined position.

6. In mechanism of the, type described, a circuit cont-roller comprising a switch normally tending to close the circuit, a rotatable shaft, a ratchet wheel carried by the shaft and having means for opening the switch when in a predetermined position, a spring adapted to rotate said wheel in one direction, escapement mechanism for controlling the movement of the wheel under the action of the spring, a lever movable at will, said escapement mechanism being rendered active by movements of said lever, and pneumatic means for moving said wheel in the opposite direction, said circuit remaining closed during movements of the element to and from a predetermined position.

7 In mechanism of the type described, a circuit controller comprising a switch normally tending to close the circuit, a rotaments of the ratchet wheel under the action of the spring, and pneumatic means for re turning the element by a step-by-step movement, said circuit remaining closed during movements of the element to and from a predetermined position.

8. A mechanism of the class described, comprising a rotatable toothed disk, an electric switch, means normally tending to hold said switch in closed position, an element carried by said disk operating in the nature of a cam with respect to said switch and adapted to retain said switch in openposition when the disk is in its normal position,

a lever adapted to be operated at will and provided with devices to cause a one-step advancement of the disk for each actuation of the lever, and pneumatic means adapted to engage the disk teeth to set back the disk one step for each operation of said pneumatic means.

In testimony whereof we affix our signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

JOHN H. LESLEY. OTTO T. SCHOEN. Witnesses:

MAX H. SRoLovrTz, CHRIs'rINA T. H601). 

